Action Alert: School officials ban free speech at Christmastime!
"Happy Winter" just doesn't have the same ring as Merry Christmas or Happy Hanukkah, but in one Connecticut elementary school, that's about all you'll see and hear this holiday season.
WATERBURY, Connecticut - December 5, 2009 - Erik Brown, principal of Walsh Elementary School in Waterbury, Connecticut, has reportedly banned all religious festivities and many decorations from the classroom since arriving at the school five years ago. Brown, who declined comment through a spokeswoman to FoxNews.com on Friday, explained to The Republican-American newspaper that state law mandates that a public school cannot knowingly exclude children.
"This is not a church," Brown told the paper. "It's a school and it's a public school. I have to do things that include every child. So what we do is celebrate winter."
In a statement, Waterbury Public Schools Superintendent David Snead defended Brown, calling the issue of religious celebrations "especially difficult" in December and reminding all staff at the district's schools that holiday festivities can proceed but without religious overtones.
"This a constitutional issue - separation of church and state - and is not up to individual discussion," Snead's statement read. "The issue of religious celebrations is especially difficult during the month of December."
Waterbury Teachers Association President Donna Vignali, who could not be reached for comment Friday, has said neither she nor union officials at Walsh Elementary have received any complaints related to the policy.
"I don't know where that complaint came from," Vignali told The Republican-American in reference to reported objections to the policy by one teacher and one parent at the school.
Board of Education member John Theriault told the paper that many of Waterbury's 20 elementary schools display Christmas ornaments and allow Christmas parties.
Call these un-American officials and ask them precisely where in the Constitution it establishes a separation of church and state? Read the First Amendment to them. It says that Congress shall make no law restricting the free expression of religion. Their repressive actions are restricting students’ free expression of religion.
Walsh Elementary School
Principal Erik Brown
203-574-8164
Waterbury Public School District
Superintendent David Snead
203-574-8000
WATERBURY, Connecticut - December 5, 2009 - Erik Brown, principal of Walsh Elementary School in Waterbury, Connecticut, has reportedly banned all religious festivities and many decorations from the classroom since arriving at the school five years ago. Brown, who declined comment through a spokeswoman to FoxNews.com on Friday, explained to The Republican-American newspaper that state law mandates that a public school cannot knowingly exclude children.
"This is not a church," Brown told the paper. "It's a school and it's a public school. I have to do things that include every child. So what we do is celebrate winter."
In a statement, Waterbury Public Schools Superintendent David Snead defended Brown, calling the issue of religious celebrations "especially difficult" in December and reminding all staff at the district's schools that holiday festivities can proceed but without religious overtones.
"This a constitutional issue - separation of church and state - and is not up to individual discussion," Snead's statement read. "The issue of religious celebrations is especially difficult during the month of December."
Waterbury Teachers Association President Donna Vignali, who could not be reached for comment Friday, has said neither she nor union officials at Walsh Elementary have received any complaints related to the policy.
"I don't know where that complaint came from," Vignali told The Republican-American in reference to reported objections to the policy by one teacher and one parent at the school.
Board of Education member John Theriault told the paper that many of Waterbury's 20 elementary schools display Christmas ornaments and allow Christmas parties.
Call these un-American officials and ask them precisely where in the Constitution it establishes a separation of church and state? Read the First Amendment to them. It says that Congress shall make no law restricting the free expression of religion. Their repressive actions are restricting students’ free expression of religion.
Walsh Elementary School
Principal Erik Brown
203-574-8164
Waterbury Public School District
Superintendent David Snead
203-574-8000
